Happy Gotcha Day, Simon! 

Today is Simon’s Gotcha Day. He was adopted from the shelter and brought home 7 years ago today. Simon was a year and a half at adoption. Today he is 8.5 years old. 

I met Simon at the shelter in October and had been approved for his adoption. However, with Halloween on October 31, I asked the shelter if they could keep him until November 1. I did not want to have a new cat in the house getting used to new surroundings being further traumatized by Halloween. I figured it would be safer for him to just stay in the shelter until the day after so he could come home to a calm environment to get acclimated to his new home.

Kitty had passed away in the spring of 2017, and I had not planned on adopting again. I told Jude he was going to be an only child. However, despite playing with Jude every day and spending as much time with him as I could, I could tell that he needed more stimulation and interaction than I was able to provide. Yes, he mourned Kitty’s passing, but he was lonely too. 

I had a student who was doing a job shadow at the animal shelter with one of the veterinarians. I had to do a site visit for the students doing job shadows. That was how I met Simon. Jude had been begging for a new companion, and when I met Simon, I knew he was the one. 

Simon was 1.5 years old at the time, he was younger than I was thinking. After living through kitten phase with Kitty and Kip, I now prefer to adopt older cats. However, even though he was a young 1.5 years old, Simon was the perfect companion for Jude.

Simon is our Chief Cuddler. Everyone loves Simon. He gets along so well with both Jude and Jolene. Simon is very loving. He sleeps with me every night. He is often right next to my pillow or right up beside me near my shoulders. 

The only challenge with Simon is that he is painfully shy. When he goes to the vet office, he behaves well. He is very sweet. He allows them to examine him and do his vaccines. However, Simon prefers to hide. He is very shy.

Simon is shy to the point that no one other than the vet has ever seen Simon in person. Anytime someone comes to the house, Simon hides. His preferred hiding place is the cupboard under the kitchen sink. I even had someone who came to the house once a week for a year when Simon was adopted to help me with things, and that person never saw Simon. 

A few years ago, I was very ill. A friend came over to the house daily to help me with feeding the cats. She never saw Simon either. He would not even come out to eat. She had to put his food dish in the cupboard under the sink to get him to eat. She never actually saw Simon.

It worries me he is so shy because if something ever happens to me, I don’t know how Simon would cope. Obviously, he is okay with me and loves me. This is his home, and I am his person. But if something happens to me, someone is going to have to be painfully patient with his level of shyness.

Jolene goes right up to people. She is super friendly and must be in the middle of everything. Jude is food motivated. If you give him something to eat, he will be your best friend. Simon has never come out of hiding for anyone, even with people who visit regularly. 

You would never know how shy Simon is based on his popularity on social media. 

Simon is so sweet and loving. I feel so fortunate to be his human and that he chose to open to me when I met him at the shelter. 

When I adopted Simon, I literally picked him up from the shelter after work on November 1, and we had a vet appointment for his first well visit. He went from the shelter to the vet to home. He was the cleanest and most well taken care of cat I have ever adopted from a shelter. When he had his well visit immediately upon leaving the shelter, he had no fleas, no ear mites, was neutered and up to date on vaccines. 

Of course, I did the slow introduction process with Jude and Simon. It went easy and well due to the bonus fact that Simon was so healthy and did not need to be medically quarantined to avoid giving something to Jude.

In fact, Jude and Simon were playing “paws” under the door much more quickly than I would have thought. Their “slow introduction” process was the fastest of any cats I’ve had, and it was all on their schedule. 

Simon is the baby of the family, and everyone loves Simon. He is such a snuggle bug. He also loves to play with both Jude and Jolene. He keeps this house full of love.  

Simon is his own cat and has a unique personality. In addition to being painfully shy, he is also afraid of lawnmowers and thunderstorms. Simon hides when he is scared.

As baby of the family, Simon rarely performs coworker duties. When he does appear in the office, it is usually because it is close to mealtime or quitting time. Simon has started spending the last hour of work in the office with me. He knows when work is over, we all go downstairs, and it is family time. 

Simon brings so much love to our home. I’m glad Jude prodded me into getting him a companion instead of leaving him as an only child. Simon is truly the heart of our family. 

Happy Gotcha Day, Simon! We are so happy you are with us here in your forever home. I am very glad you chose me to be your mom. Simon is a good baby and we love him.